When organising a trip to Naples, we lost a lot of time searching for news that would constructively help us unravel the problem of planning our short stay in Naples. A lot of information was unclear, inconsistent or simply outdated, so we created a guide to help those planning to conquer Naples and its surroundings.
We have updated this post regularly to make sure you find the latest information.
Table of Contents
Arrival at Naples – Naples International Airport (NAP) transfer to the city
The airport that will welcome us in Naples will be Naples International (NAP). We will of course choose the cheapest and most convenient option for us to fly from Poland. In our case, it was Katowice with Wizzair and it costed around 30 euro/person round trip (2017). There are really a lot of offers and it is very nice to find them on a cheap flight search engine such as Skyscanner or Google flight search.
If you plan a different departure point it is very easy to change it by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the top of the right corner and entering your preferred airport. We can plan the date and date ourselves by selecting them on the calendar panel. It then shows us the cheapest tickets for the month in a clear schedule. Once you have selected a ticket option, the site will take you to the website of the cheapest carrier and you can order directly from them. Anyway, see for yourself and book your ticket to Naples today!
City attractions in Naples – how to plan an interesting trip
Naples is full of amazing attractions and it will be hard to get bored in this city. So it is worth planning your trip in advance and getting to know the interesting places you want to visit. This way, your plan for your visit will be optimal and you will make the most of it. Check out our suggestions in our post about visiting Naples in 3 days.
If you want to buy your tickets in advance so that you are sure to be able to enter an attraction (especially important when visiting Pompeii, which has a time limit), you can do so online. You will receive your ticket by email and you won’t have to waste time in queues. Really practical solution. Check which attractions you can buy your ticket in advance and not waste time in the lines – All Naples attractions online.
Public transport in Naples
Transport from the airport to the centre of Naples
The first and basic question we were looking for was: how to get from the airport to the centre of Naples? Well, you can use ALIBUS, which is a direct connection between the airport and the city (Piazza Garibaldi train station and Piazza Municipio port). It is a bus line belonging to the airport service and tickets for it can be bought directly from the driver (although it is then more expensive by 1 euro). To find the Alibus you leave the airport, just turn slightly to the left and walk ahead for 200m. A normal ticket costs €4 (2023). The bus leaves every 20 minutes.
There is also a second way to get from the airport to the city centre and this is line 920. It is about 300 metres away from the Alibus stop and is formally outside the airport. A ticket costs €1.30 one way and runs every 30 minutes or so. For us, however, it is a mysterious and, one might say, 'ghost’ line. We wanted to use it on the way back from the train station and NO ONE knew where it started from. We asked about it in the tourist information and we found out that the only way was through Alibus. Nowadays, it is a good idea to type the route you want to take into Google Maps and Google will tell you the right stop.
It is worth mentioning that public transport for children under 6 is free if the parent has a valid, punched ticket (1 child per 1 parent). This also applies to most tourist attractions, so Italy is a really family-friendly country when travelling with young children.
Unfortunately, children and young people between 6 and 18 years old pay for public transport as adults. They will be able to use youth concessions at most tourist attractions.
Transport in Naples outside the city
Metro
The common means of public transport in Naples are the metro lines. They are not extensive and are divided into two routes, M1 line, which can be called urban, and M2 called suburban. Thanks to M2 line, we can reach, among others, the province of Pouzzoli, where is located the very interesting Solfatara Volcano. The metro is one of the most reliable means of transport, so if you are pressed for time and want to be sure of arriving at your destination on time, we recommend using this means of transport.
Buses
Bus lines run around the city quite frequently, but the timetable is hardly used. Italians are known for their tardiness, and as much as possible this works out in the departure schedules. If the bus comes, it comes, and if it doesn’t, you have to wait. Naples is also a very crowded city, so a smooth ride is out of the question. Bus tickets are bought at kiosks (€1) or directly from the drivers (around €1.50).
Circiumvesuviana
This is a suburban railway that, as the name says, circles around the Vesuvius volcano. It is not connected in any way to the main railways and the usual municipal tickets apply, which can be bought from kiosks or ticket machines. It is divided into 5 main lines.
The most interesting for tourists are those that go around Vesuvius from the south side, namely:
Napoli – Sorrento – with this line we get to Herculaneum and to the Vesuvius crater
Napoli – Poggiomarino – this line mostly coincides with the one going to Sorrento, but only in this direction do we get to the ruins of Pompeii
The northern lines take us in directions such as:
Napoli – Balano/Acerra
Napoli – Sarno
The train runs quite lazily, but fairly punctually.
Funicorale Naples
In Naples, a rather pleasant and attractive form of travel are the funicorales, or city lifts, which take the passenger up a hill. In the centre, we can find three of them located mainly near the hill on which the Castle of San Elmo is located. Tickets cost the same as for other means of transport.
Safety in Naples
Unfortunately, Naples is not a place where we will be able to plunge carefree into the magic of travelling and sightseeing. Our trip coincided with a period of inter-mafia fight that left dozens of people dead. As a consequence of these attacks, a state of emergency was imposed on the streets and order was policed by the military, effectively deterring potential troublemakers.
The station area itself, as well as the centre, is full of suspicious groups of black people and small stalls. The police even cautioned us as we walked through the area not to put our backpacks on our backs, but to keep them in front as thefts are common.
However, the market square itself, as well as the area around Naples, are reasonably safe places where basic and purely common sense safety rules must be observed, i.e. watch out for pickpockets in crowded places, keep your wallet and documents hidden or do not travel with a lot of cash with you.
For Poles, as well as for other Europeans from more peaceful cities, the driving style of local drivers can come as a big shock. Pedestrians and cars have to live in harmony with each other by sticking to the basic rule, however: „Drive in such a way as not to hurt another. Ignore all traffic rules and signs. If something annoys or disturbs you, honk. If you are a pedestrian, show your displeasure with an appropriate gesture or shout”. So we advise against renting a car if you only want to get around town. The streets are quite narrow and parking spaces are also scarce. Nerves guaranteed. Coming to Naples in your own car is a convenient option that gives you a lot of freedom of movement, but it will certainly give you a lot of nerves and a few grey hairs.
Naples City Card – ArteCard basic information
It is worth considering buying a city card during your stay in Naples. There are different versions available, and we just used the 3-day option for young people and students (18-25 years old) at the price of €30 Campania GIOVANI/YOUNG. The Standard card for everyone else (including young people aged 6 to 18) costs €41 for 3 days and €43 for 7 days (the 7-day card does not include public transport). Prices current for 12.2023.
The balance worked out in our favour as the card entitles us to free entry to more than 32 tourist attractions and a 50% discount on further attractions. We used it for admission to Pompeii, Herkunalum, Nuovo Castle, the Royal Palace and the Catacombs.
The standard option for 3 days costing €41 entitles us to free entry to only 2 tourist attractions, as well as a 50% discount on the third and subsequent attractions.
In addition, we can travel for free with all city buses, metro, lifts and Circiumvesuviana (NB the ArteCard does not include ALIBUS bus lines).
It is also possible to buy a card oriented only to the city. In this case you pay less, but to Pompeii, as well as other attractions on the outskirts of the city, you will have to pay the total.
You can buy the city card online, using the free ArteCard app, or at one of the local points where you buy the card on the spot. Currently, probably the most convenient option is to have the ArteCard in the form of an app on your phone, as you always have it at hand and it is convenient to use.
Please note that the ArteCard is an x-day card and expires at the end of the last day (by 0:00). That is, if you validate it on Monday, the card will be valid until midnight on Wednesday.
The use of free entrances with the ArteCard is not always conclusive. If you have two free entrances, they will only apply to the selected pool of attractions. Some (i.e. the catacombs in Naples) only entitle us to use a 50% discount, even if we have an unused entrance. It is therefore worth planning your trip so that the card pays for itself.
For more information on the types of card and their card, please visit the ArteCard website, where you can purchase your ticket online.
Here you can also download a book with the attractions included in the package of the ArteCard urban card, options for discounts, etc. – The ArteCard Naples book.
Accommodation in Naples
During our stay in Naples, we relied on good transport links. So our choice fell on Piazza Garibaldi. It may not be the most quiet neighbourhood in the whole of Naples, but we were tempted by the rather good price and the resolve not to travel anywhere in the city at night. The Hotel Garden Napoli where we stayed had several floors and we managed to book a room at the very top of it. The advantages? We had our own rather wide balcony, which was more of a rooftop exit than a standard of its kind, with a brilliant view of the city hill and Vesuvius (photo of the view from the balcony below). We booked the room about a month in advance of our trip. We had quite a lot of choice and the location we chose allowed us a lot of freedom to get around Naples and its surroundings. We had less than a 5-minute walk to the metro train and Circiumvesuviana.
A tip for anyone planning to go to Naples who doesn’t like to get lost.
Everyone today is equipped with a smartphone and it is worth using it to navigate yourself. Often the internet is required for this, but there is a way. We recommend you an offline navigation system that we often use on our travels – Mapy.cz. It has rather never let us down and is trivial to use. All you have to do is download the map to your phone’s memory at home or somewhere with internet access and then use it from your GPS. I guarantee that from then on you will find it harder to get lost and if you do, you will find your way back more easily.
